Five men charged with murder in death of Chandler officer

Five men face murder charges in the slaying of an undercover Chandler police officer who died during a gunfight last week,according to an 11-count direct complaint announced Tuesday by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

The charges come on the eve of the funeral for Detective Carlos Ledesma, who was the first Chandler officer killed in the line of duty since 2002.

Doarnell Reuna Jackson, 35, faces a standalone first-degree murder charge listed as the first count in the complaint. The count is considered premeditated murder, officials said.

A single person named in a single count of homicide is commonly identified as the person suspected of committing the crime, said county attorney spokesman Bill FitzGerald. However, the case is still under investigation as detectives work to identify the men who fired shots in last week's botched drug deal.

Ledesma, 34, was part of an operation involving nearly 12 Chandler police officers, including SWAT members. He and other officers, posing as dealers, showed two of the suspects a marijuana sample before arranging for a sale at a home in the 2300 block of West Maldonado Avenue in south Phoenix.

The operation where police bait drug suspects with seized evidence is known as a "reversal."

Suspects John Howard Webber, Jerry Wayne Cockhearn Jr., Eldridge Auzzele Gittens and Thandika Taweh Singleton also face felony murder charges. They are suspected of participating in the drug deal, which led to the officer's murder.

Other charges announced Tuesday include attempted armed robbery, weapons misconduct, and drug-related charges, according to the complaint.

Webber and Singleton are accused of presenting $250,000 in cash to buy 500 pounds of marijuana, police said. Gittens and Jackson are prohibited from possessing firearms.

Two additional suspects, Markiese Royalty and Roger Tatum, were killed at the scene.

A sixth suspect hospitalized in the shootout has not been identified by Phoenix police. It was unclear if the sixth suspect would face criminal charges.

Phoenix police Sgt. Steve Martos, a department spokesman, said detectives were still processing evidence to determine the sequence of events leading up to Ledesma's death.

Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said additional criminal charges could be announced later.

In addition to Ledesma, two other Chandler officers suffered gunshot wounds in Wednesday's shootout. Romley said one of the two officers is no longer in a life-threatening situation.

"Our prayers and our thoughts are with the Ledesma family and we will see that justice is done," Romley said.